Ference is expected to be in the thick of things when the Oilers host the Boston Bruins Thursday at Rexall Place. Ference won a Stanley Cup and went to another final with the Bruins before signing as a free agent with the Oilers this summer.

“It’ll be good, it’s a good test for us as a team,” Ference said. “Individually, it’s exciting. It’s obviously a little weird playing against guys that you’ve played with so long, but in the same token, I think that I’ve been around long enough that you go to battle and learn how to fight, probably even harder against your buddies than you would against guys you don’t know, just to one up each other.

“It’ll be a good night (Thursday), there’ll be a lot of good battles and it’ll be a lot of fun.”